Chapter 9: Language Development Flashcards
What are the 5 basic components that underlie all languages?
phonology morphology semantics syntax pragmatics
What is phonology?
knowledge of sounds used in a given language
- learning how to detect, discriminate and produce speech sounds
- humans are capable of generating many more sounds than any one language uses
- languages have different phonologies
What is morphology?
understanding the ways that sounds can be combined to form words
- infants learn that sounds can be combined in meaningful ways
- taking consonants and vowels, and sticking the sounds together
What is semantics?
meaning or content of words and sentences
- growing vocabulary signals an increase in semantic knowledge
What is syntax?
knowledge of the structure of sentences
- rules by which words are to be combined to form sentences
What is pragmatics?
understanding how to use language to communicate effectively
ie. speaking differently with adults, peers, and children
ie. intonation at the end of a sentence when asking a question
Prelinguistic Communication
When does phonological development begin?
may begin before birth
- infants recognize familiar sounds (mother’s voice) before birth
What are the 3 types of prelinguistic communication?
crying, cooing, babbling
What is cooing?
making deliberate vowel sounds (begins 2-3 months of age)
What is babbling?
repeating strings of consonants and vowels (morphology)
- begins around 6 months
- universal but becomes more similar to native language over time
- socially interactive process
What is linguistic turn-taking?
taking turns talking
What are holophrases?
one-word expressions to express complete thoughts
words that the infant hears often, and therefore learns—combination of morphology
ie. milk, juice, up
What is receptive language?
what the toddler can understand
What is productive language?
what the toddler can produce or say themselves
What is the relationship between receptive language and productive language?
receptive language is much far advanced than productive language in infants (understand way more than they can say)
has to do with dexterity of their tongues (mouth isn’t developed enough to produce sounds that require the tongue and lips)